


If We Can't Save the World

by Afalstein



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Canon Compliant, F/M, Gen, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Recovery, Revenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-11-05
Packaged: 2019-07-29 07:33:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,616
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16259570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Afalstein/pseuds/Afalstein
Summary: In the wake of the battle with Thanos, the Avengers attempt to regroup. But how do you recover from the apocalypse? What else is there, when you've lost the war?





	1. Reunion

It was utterly quiet in the spaceship. Dead quiet. Crushingly quiet. The kind of quiet that presses down over everything and smothers even the thought of discussion. You could not cut the silence with a knife, or even chip it with a jackhammer. You could only accept it.  
  
Nebula had yet to speak a single word to the strange human who sat hunched over the piloting console. She’d followed him to the ship, he’d given her a single glance, then clearly dismissed her from his mind. She vaguely wondered how he’d figured out the piloting console so fast, but the question of where he was flying them to barely even crossed her mind. She didn’t care. Her sister was dead, her Marauders dead, the only people in the world who might not actively want to kill her had dissolved to ash in front of her eyes. One destination was as good as another.  
  
So the two sped toward Earth, eyes gazing fixedly out the window at the stars speeding past.  
  


* * *

  
  
“Three hours?” Natasha grimaced.  
  
“I’m surprised they gave us that much time to clear out, honestly.” Banner shrugged.   
  
“Try to understand.” Shuri said, trying to muster up a smile. Brother had always smiled while doing this sort of thing. “Wakanda hasn’t been open for over a thousand years. We finally unlock our borders, let in a handful of fugitives from the outside world, and suddenly, half our people die.”  
  
“If… if it helps.” Banner gave a little smile. “Probably doesn’t, but… hey… they would have died whether you’d opened your borders or not.”   
  
“I understand that.” Shuri said. “But the council does not.”  
  
Natasha nodded. “We’d probably be locked up somewhere answering questions in a lot more unpleasant fashion if we’d been in America. Or Russia.”  
  
Was that what governments did? Shuri wondered. Should she be doing that now, as Queen? Ordering her troops to capture the Avengers? Maybe the council would like that. The heroes left in this room were not so  _very_  powerful.   
  
But no. Her men would be no match for Captain America or the others, even with the Black Panther fighting alongside them. She was barely queen in name, and had none of her brother’s abilities. And besides, she had no stomach to fight these heroes.  
  
“The main thing right now is to get in the air, find some place to regroup.” Rhodes said. “But I can’t get ahold of Fury, and I don’t think Ross is taking my calls anymore.”  
  
“Maybe he disappeared.” Nat suggested. No one asked which man she meant.  
  
“Cap, any suggestions?” Rhodes looked over.  
  
The First Avenger was standing at the window, staring outside at the field below. The once-green pasture was scored with black scorch marks from the battle; cleanup crews were dragging away corpses of alien and Wakandan alike. Half-a-dozen of the “Warwheel” tanks were being taken apart, the chewed-up dirt of the ground behind them ravaged.  
  
High above the field, there was a small figure, just floating in thin air. At this distance, one could just make out the red cape flapping around him, and see the occasional crackle from the hammer in his arms.  
  
Cap said nothing.  
  
“We… we have a few safehouses left.” Nat said, turning back. “We can…” She seemed at a loss for words for a moment. “…go there. For now.”   
  
“Good enough.” Rhodes said. He looked to Shuri. “Your highness, I’m sorry our involvement has caused such trouble for you with the council. Is there anything we can…?”  
  
Shuri shrugged. “Ah, the council is always complaining.” She caught Okoye’s lifted eyebrow and hastened to make that sound more official. “…but we respect the way of our ancestors here. I am not the first woman to take up the mantle of the Black Panther.”  _Just the first in three hundred years._  “Honestly there may not even be a ritu…”   
  
Okoye sent her a quick glare and Shiuri snapped her mouth shut. The outsiders did not need to know of Wakanda’s ways, anymore than they needed to know about Killmonger’s coup and how that might… revise age-old traditions. “I can take care of myself.” She finished, with another quick smile.  
  
Rhodes and Nat looked at her, and she wondered what they saw. A scared sixteen-year-old who’d spent more time in the labs than on the practice ring? A girl more familiar with sonic blasters than with hand-to-hand combat? There might not be a ritual, but any coronation would demand at least the form of a challenge. And if one of the other tribes put forward a champion… Already she was wondering if she just abdicate and let the throne pass to Okoye or someone. Maybe... Maybe even M'Baku. There was a… startling thought.  
  
Whatever Nat’s thoughts, she kept them to herself. Her nod was almost bored. “Then what about the… guest?”   
  
“He needs to stay here.” Shuri shook her head. “I’m sorry, but to move him now would lose any chance of recovery. I will keep him safe, you have my word.” If only because he was the closest link to figuring what exactly had happened to her brother.  
  
One of the beads on her bracelet flashed, and a hologram sprang to life. She glanced at it, and her heart dropped into her feet. “A vessel has just dropped from space into Wakandan airspace.” She said.  
  
Everyone looked up. They were all thinking the same thing. This was how it had started before.  
  
“Why would they come back?” Banner stepped to the window. “That makes no sense.”  
  
“Round two, maybe?” Rhodes stepped alongside him, his eyes searching the sky. “Hell, I wouldn’t question it.”  
  
The talking raccoon, though, was looking at a bracelet of his own. “What the shit?” he squinted at the screen. “What’s that idiot doing here?”  
  
Nat blinked at the red-blue ship settling on the verge of the tree-line. “That… doesn’t look like the other ships.”  
  
“It’s not.” Rocket said. “That’s mine.”

* * *

  
  
They were at the tree-line in moments. Okoye had already drawn up the forces they had, this time backed up with ten fliers and a full crew of war-rhinos. Shuri didn’t exactly know why she’d come along, but she grabbed a pair of sonic blasters and, feeling a little silly, draped the spare Black Panther necklace they’d recovered from Killmonger around her neck.  
  
At the treeline, as before, there were two figures standing. But unlike last time, they were simply standing there, with no visible weapons on them. And, Shuri realized with a thrill, she recognized one of them.  
  
“Captain.” Tony Stark nodded. “Who’s dead?”  
  


* * *

  
  
“This is Nebula, by the way.” Stark said, as the ship flew up and away from Wakanda. He gestured at the blue woman. “Cyborg alien lady. Major kill crush on big Purple.”  
  
“I know who she is.” Rocket said, turning around in the captain’s chair. “Where’s Quill? Where’s Drax?”  
  
“Dead.” Nebula said. “And Mantis.”  
  
Rocket seemed to deflate. “Shit,” he said, passing a paw over his face. “All of them? Gamora?”  
  
Nebula bit her lip and looked away. Rocket’s shoulders drooped.  
  
“Everyone keeps mentioning this Gamora.” Stark said. “Gotta say, I’m a little pissed at her for dying.”  
  
Nebula moved with terrifying speed. Before anyone could even react, she’d pinned Stark up against the bulkhead, her metallic fingers digging into her throat. “Do not blame Quill’s idiocy on my sister.” She hissed. “Nor your friend’s.”  
  
“Friend?” Nat questioned, her stun-sticks out and on Nebula’s throat.  
  
“She’s talking about Doc.” Stark grunted, apparently unfazed . “Doc Strange. Banner tell you about him? Anyway, not important. He’s dead too. Saved my life by sacrificing himself, like an idiot.”  
  
“He sacrificed half the universe.” Nebula said, slowly lowering Stark to the floor. “An idiot is the least he is.”  
  
“Strange is dead?” Banner said.  
  
“Steven Strange?” Thor turned. “I met him. A good man. I am sorry to hear he is dead.”  
  
“Yeah, well. A lot of people are.” Stark let out a breath. “Who’d we lose here?”  
  
“That we know of?” Rhodey shrugged. “There was a pretty big dust up. Sam, Wanda, Vision, T’Challa…”  
  
“Who?”  
  
“King of Wakanda. He was helping us fight.”  
  
Tony snapped his fingers. “Right. Thundercat-man, guy who was all about avenging his father. He was helping you guys?”  
  
“Bucky.” Cap said, softly. “We lost Bucky.”  
  
“Oh really?” Stark looked at the soldier. “Excuse me if I don’t shed many tears over that fact.”  
  
“Tony…” Nat said.  
  
“No, seriously.” Tony said. “Was he hiding out in Wakanda this whole time? He was, wasn’t he.” He walked a couple steps in Steve’s direction. “Wakanda, the country we were specifically trying to accommodate, the country you were specifically trying to keep from getting ahold of him? And they just reversed themselves to work with you and shelter the hypnotized Cold War assassin.”  
  
“Tony, seriously.” Rhodes said. “Not a good time. It’s been a bad day.”  
  
“Oh has it?” Tony rounded on his friend. “What a surprise. You know, until you said that, I thought half the universe dying in an instant was actually a pretty normal day. Am I being insensitive again? Let me apologize.” He turned directly toward Cap. “Steve, I’m so sorry your murderous hitman war buddy is dead. Meanwhile, me, I had to hold a sixteen-year-old in my arms while he begged and pleaded for me to save him, but really, I’m sorry to hear that the only person who you think worth even mentioning from the battle is the amnesiac psychopath.”  
  
“Don’t you talk about the battle.” Cap said, looking up with a murderous glare. “You weren’t even there. What happen, did you get one of your bright ideas again? Decide you’d do better on your own than working with a team?”  
  
Stark let out a little laugh. “Look at Mr. Team Player here. Always about what the group wants to do together. Is that how you guys wound up in Wakanda? Or did you decide what the group ‘wanted’ to do, Captain?”  
  
“You should have been here.” Cap stood up. “We’re Avengers. We fight together.”  
  
“We  _fail_  together.” Tony said. “That’s all we ever do, that’s all you ever care about. Doesn’t matter if the world gets destroyed when we lose, just if we lose  _as a team_. Unless, of course, the team decides on something you don’t like, in which case, feel free to split off and take half the team with you.”  
  
“You know, I figured you were dead.” Cap said, stepping up to Tony. “I figured you had to be. Because, I told myself, if Tony was alive, he’d be busting ass back to Earth. For all Tony’s faults, I told myself, he wants to protect people, so there’s no way in hell he’d be off…” Cap gestured angrily “…doing his own thing in space and not getting back to earth as soon as he could.”  
  
“Vision wanted to destroy the Mind Gem, didn’t he?” Tony said. “I’ll bet he did. That’s exactly the sort of dispassioned, selfless sort of idea he’d come up with. But you couldn’t have that. No, you had to go with your own, much better idea, because heaven forbid you listen to  _someone else for once in your damn life!”_  
  
Captain America punched Tony.   
  
It was a quick, savage blow, almost a literal lashing out. There was no restraint or compassion behind that punch, just powerful rage and grief, and it sent Tony flying back into the ship’s bulkhead, smashing up against it with a chillingly solid  _thud._  
  
Thor was immediately in front of Cap. “Calm down, son of Roger.” He said. “I have often wanted to kill Tony before, but it doesn’t stop him talking.”  
  
Banner let out a breath. “I… really missed a lot, didn’t I?”  
  
“Tony, what the hell.” Rhodes turned. “That was a new level of asshole, even for you.”   
  
Nat was bending over Tony. “I’m more interested in how you’re even still alive right now, Tony. You’ve got injuries even I don’t know how to give. And what was that about a sixteen year old?” She gripped him by the shoulders and tried to look him in the eyes. “What happened?”  
  
“Doesn’t matter.” Tony gave a wet-sounding cough. “Not anymore.”  
  
“You know, this is a bit odd, me breaking you two up like this.” Thor said, looking from Cap to Tony. “Usually Rogers is the one who needs to stop me. You remember when we first met? Some sort of park... Spears Park or something like that. I’m pretty sure I was trying to kill Tony before you butted in.”  
  
“You’re handling this well.” Cap said, with just touch of bitterness.  
  
“Cause he’s been through it already.” Rocket said, finally looking up. “He had nothing to lose when this whole thing started. Pirate-Angel’s already lost his entire people, this is just so much icing on the cake for him.”  
  
Thor looked at him. “Why would cakes have icing?”  
  
“Lose?” Banner’s eyes flickered over to Thor. “Then… Loki… the Asgardians…?”  
  
“Heimdall died to send you to earth.” Thor said. “Loki choked out his life in Thanos’ grip. I do not know about the others. At least half of them are dead and gone. It took me but a few days as king to lead my people to destruction, it seems.”  
  
“Don’t beat yourself up about it.” Banner said. “If Hulk couldn’t stop Thanos, I don’t know how you were supposed to.”  
  
Thor shook his head. “I should have aimed for the head.” He said.  
  
“Stop it with that.” Banner turned to the rest. “Actually, all of you, stop it with the ‘should have’ game. You want ‘should have?’ Those Black Legion assholes ‘should have’ found something better to do with their lives. They didn’t. Thanos ‘should have’ not been flipping insane. He was. Hulk should have been in the fight. He wasn’t.” Banner took a breath. “Maybe Tony should have been in Wakanda. Maybe Cap should have stayed with the Sokovia Accords. Maybe this… Gamora person 'should have' stayed alive, though I doubt she had much say in the matter.  That’s not the point anymore."  He cast a look around the ship. "Take it from the expert in self-hating, this isn’t going to get us anywhere.”  
  
There was a short silence.  
  
“Not to be competitive, but I think my self-hatred issues out-trump yours.” Tony said.  
  
“Tony, this isn’t a contest about who’s the worst monster.” Nat frowned at him.  
  
“Thor hates himself for failing his people, Banner hates himself for being a full raging monster—or not being one, in this case—I hate myself because of unresolved issues with my parents, you hate yourself for reasons I’m still not clear on…” Tony blew a breath out. “Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. We should start a therapy group.”  
  
“I feel pretty good about myself, actually.” Rhodes said. “And Banner’s right. You guys have gotta stop blaming yourselves. It’s not getting us anywhere.”  
  
“So? Are we even going anywhere, at this point?” Tony threw up his hands. “What’s the plan, exactly? Go back to Stark Tower? Find some Cold-War era bunker in Germany? Why?” He shrugged off Nat’s grip. “Do we have some sort of magical plan to make all those people not-dead?”  
  
There was total silence. Nat looked to Cap. Rhodes looked to Stark. Banner looked to Thor.  
  
No one said a word.   
  
Tony let his hand fall. “Of course not. This isn’t regrouping. This isn’t some sort of second wind where we rediscover our purpose to save the world. The war's over. We lost. There’s no saving this day.” He let loose a snort. “So what are we even doing here?”   
  
Silence.  Crushing, final, silence.  
  
“You call yourselves the Avengers.” Nebula said, suddenly. “Half your planet lies dead, and you wonder what you should do?” She snorted. “It’s simple. You do some Avenging.”


	2. Regroup

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newly re-formed Avengers begin to look about for their plan to kill Thanos.

It just figured, Stark reflected, that Secretary Ross would be one of the people to survive the apocalypse.

"Stark, you're pushing your luck here." The glowing hologram of former general said. "You think we haven't noticed the building full of international criminals you've got in that tower of yours?"

"You think I haven't noticed you haven't actually done anything about it?" Stark said. He was just barely paying attention to the man, his fingers were flying over the screen in front of him. "Surprised you can spare the time to threaten me, with all the mass panic and hysteria going on out there. UN's barely keeping it together, from what I can see."

Ross growled. "We're not always going to be busy, Stark. You might want to think about how many crimes you're racking up, harboring fugitives and…"

"Fun fact: they're not fugitives anymore. They're foreign nationals. Interplanetary Nationals. Hey, you know Thor, right?" Stark gestured to the demigod, who looked startled until he saw the hologram.

"Oh! Yes, allow me to introduce myself." Thor smiled and stepped forward. "Thor Odinson, god of Thunder, King of Asgard. You may kneel, though it's not strictly required-I'm trying to establish a more laid-back monarchy than my father's."

Ross just stared at him.

"Anyway." Thor clapped his hands. "The one you call Bruce Banner is my brother in arms and is a citizen of Asgard. In recompense for services done to the Asgardian people, I have granted his boon to take Stephen son of Rogers and Natalia the Roman under my guardianship as fellow citizens." Thor smiled. "We're very big on immigration right now, trying to repopulate our people, there was a genocide, lots of details, not important right now though I-would-love-to talk over the whole story with you at some point." He coughed. "The important thing is, they are members of my royal bodyguard and as such are entitled to diplomatic immunity."

Ross stared at the Asgardian. "The hell?"

"Sidebar: Scarlet Witch and Falcon are dead, so you can take them off the list too." Stark said, fingers still working on the screen. "Rhodes also says he's fine with the court-martial, going to plead no-contender or something."

_"Non-contendre."_

"Sure, that sounds right." Stark nodded.

Ross was regaining his composure. "Cute, but you realize you can't just have someone declare themselves king to give themselves diplomatic immunity. You need to be formally recognized by the UN…"

"Gee, that sounds fascinating, but look, Ross." Stark turned from his screen. "The UN clearly has better things to do than to go through the whole bureaucratic process of recognizing the sovereignty of the god of thunder. I know I do. While I'm sure Point Break here would be amply able to satisfy all your paperwork..."

"What? I don't understand." Thor glanced from one to the other. "Paper doesn't work. It just sits there. Like stupid paper. Doesn't even have moving pictures."

"…it'd probably take a while." Stark looked at the Asgardian. "So." He looked back at Ross. "Here's the deal I worked out with Rogers, which you're going to accept because you're too busy to contest every single point. Thor's royal guard is going to be working with Earth's Avengers as part of an interplanetary cooperative investigation into the whole mass disappearance thing. Also there's another group we're teaming up with called the Guardians. Send Hill over and we'll give you the details."

Ross remained silent for a long moment. Then: "Agent Maria Hill's disappeared."

Stark blinked. "Oh. By which you mean 'dissolved into ash,' right?"

"Presumably. There's video footage. And of Fury." Ross shoved his hands in his pockets. "But I've got someone else."

* * *

"Agent Everett Ross." The man put out his hand and Rogers shook it. "CIA. You might remember, we…"

"You worked with the Joint-Counter-Terrorism Task Force." Rogers nodded. "You told me I was lucky not to be in a cell."

"You were." Everett said, crossing his arms. He stood on the ramp of the quinjet in the Stark Tower hangar. His face looked drawn and irritated. "Lucky to have a friend like Stark. Ordinary people don't get to just beat up a multi-national law enforcement squad and walk away scott-free, you realize."

"This is off to a good start." Rhodes muttered.

"Someone around here needs to care about the UN's interests." Everett said, with a glance at Rhodes. "Or at least I certainly need to. Sort of my job. But a liason team does need to appreciate the interests of both sides, so…" He nodded to the other agent walking down the ramp of the Quinjet.

Agent Sharon Carter brushed back her blonde hair. "Hello again, Steve." She smiled.

"Probationary service." Everett said, looking at the two heroes. "You realize you left her sitting with a pile of charges when you and your friends hopped off to Siberia, right?"

"It's all right, Ross." Carter looked a little annoyed.

"It's really not." Everett glared at her. "CIA takes a chance on an ex-SHIELD operative and the first thing she does is leak info to rogue agents and 'liberate' prototype weaponry. You're pretty lucky not to be in a jail cell yourself."

Rhodes closed his eyes. "Y'done?"

Everett faced the major, and deflated a little. "Yes, colonel." He said.

"I get where you're coming from, agent, believe me." Rhodes said. "But we've got bigger issues on the table right now, and talking over old wounds isn't going to solve anything." He gestured toward the door at the back of the room. "Now I understand you want an explanation."

* * *

"Hey Clint."

"Hey Nat."

"Thanks for meeting me like this."

"The UN guy said it was okay, so no worries. They're giving me my gear back, too. Not sure yet whether that means they expect me to hunt you or work with you."

Silence.

"Clint, I know how much your family means to you, and I know you have to think of them first…"

"Actually I don't."

More silence.

"Not anymore."

"Oh."

Longer silence.

"You mean they...?"

"Crumbled to dust, yes. Look, Nat, just tell me two things, okay?"

"Okay. What's the first thing?"

"Can you bring them back?"

* * *

"These people are completely dead then, right?" Everett said, jotting down notes in a legal pad.

"Not so much dead as wiped from existence." Banner said. He and Nebula were standing in front of a whiteboard with a diagram of a gauntlet and two stick figures, one with x's over his eyes and tongue sticking out. "No corpses, obviously. But by every standard definition, yes. They're not in some other dimension or trapped in some amulet or anything like that. They're gone."

"Alien superweapon." Everett rubbed his eyes. "Security Council's going to love this. And this alien, Thanos… what's to prevent him from using it again?"

"We think the tool he used gets exhausted after one use." Banner said.

"But he could probably get it repaired." Nebula pointed out.

Everett tapped his pen against his chin. "Does he have demands? Can we reason with him?"

"No, and no." Banner said. "We're not even yet sure where he is anymore, or how to contact him. He has no demands of the Earth, he doesn't want tribute or service or sacrifices. He just…" He shrugged. "…I don't know. Wants to kill people."

"He wants balance." Nebula said. "He thinks killing half the universe's population will keep resources from dwindling out."

Everett squinted. He was clearly trying to process the idea. "Just… any half."

"Yes." Nebula said.

"Like if there was a planet of pacifistic science-monks, he'd kill half of them." Sharon, who was sitting next to him, said.

"Impartially."

"If there were only two pandas left in the world, he'd kill one and leave the other unable to reproduce." Everett pressed.

"The gauntlet doesn't differentiate, so yes." Nebula seemed puzzled at the panda reference but let it go.

Sharon and Everett exchanged glances.

"Does he realize this will only slow the rate of consumption, not halt it completely?" Sharon asked.

"He might. He might not." Nebula shrugged.

"So what happens when—if—these civilizations recover and regain their original quotas?" Everett asked.

"He probably does it again." Nebula said.

Everett and Carter exchanged glances. "Well." Ross closed his legal pad. "That's terrifying. And… you Avengers. What's your plan?"

* * *

"Clint…"

"The truth, Nat. This is too important for sugar-coating. Can. You. Bring. Them. Back?"

Silence.

"No. There's nothing we can do. I'm sorry, Clint, but your family… they're gone."

Silence.

"Then it's time for my second question. Are you killing the bastard responsible?"

* * *

"We will crush Thanos and mount his head on a spike at the far end of the galaxy." Nebula said.

Ross turned around to look at Steve. He shrugged. "Basically."

* * *

"That's the plan."

"Then I'm in."

* * *

"Probably not the spike bit." Rhodes explained, with a sidelong look at Steve. "But, essentially, yes. The plan is to eliminate Thanos and render his weapon inoperable. Like we said, there's no guarantee he won't try this again. As long as he's alive and in possession of the Guantlet, there's no telling when he might choose to do it again."

"We can't bring back the people he killed." Steve said. "But we can make damn sure he doesn't kill anymore."

"Cap just said damn..." Banner murmured.

Ross and Sharon again exchanged glances. "No disrespect Captain, but by your own account, you tried to kill him already." Ross said. "Unless you're implying you weren't really trying in that battle you described."

"We'll be coming at him unexpected." Steve said. "We'll have all the time we need to prepare. And we'll be coming at him together. Our odds aren't great, I know." His face suddenly hardened. "It doesn't matter. Either we kill him, or die trying."

"Steve..." Sharon said.

"And what," Everett said, "do you need to make sure that happens?"

Rogers blinked at the man. "I'm sorry…?"

"Understand something, Captain." Everett said. His eyes were narrowed, his speech was sharp and clipped, as if he were biting out his words. "I've been at the UN the last few days. I've heard a lot. Everyone knows someone who died. Everyone lost someone close to them. Everyone wants vengeance." He paused. "Honestly, the real problem the UN has right now is that they're not sure who to take vengeance ON, so they've been taking it out on each other. But once they find out who is?" He gave a little laugh and shook his head. "The English ambassador lost his brother. The Japanese ambassador lost two sons and his oldest friend on a jet unlucky enough to lose both its pilots. The French ambassador lost his wife AND one of his mistresses. Secretary Ross lost his daughter. The Russian ambassador's wife..." Everett looked away for a moment, "...died on the operating table, along with their unborn child. They think the surgeon could have saved them, if he hadn't crumbled away."

The conference room was utterly quiet. Banner had gone pale and slack jawed, his clipboard had fallen from his nerveless hand. Sharon said nothing, she was staring at the floor, lost in thoughts of her own. Only the slightest tremor of her shoulders betrayed her feelings.

"A lot of my friends are dead." Everett said. "Most notably, the king of Wakanda. So let me ask you again: what do you need to make this son of a bitch pay?"

There was a short silence before a new voice broke in.

"Well," said Tony, tossing a broken chest piece into the wastepaper basket. "I've always been curious what a vibranium suit would be like." He looked at Ross. "You say you know people there?"


	3. Re-Arming

 "Everett, do you know what the penalty for stealing vibranium and selling it to the outside world is?

"Not really." Ross said. "We didn't even know you still had Vibranium until last year. But I'm guessing it's a pretty stiff penalty."

"You might say that." Nakia sniffed. "Treason, I suppose, would be the closest colonizer equivalent. Or a dishonorable discharge, if that meant getting fed to the lions and your entire family falling into disgrace."

Ross's brow wrinkled. "You feed people to lions?"

"Used to." Nakia shrugged. "Not anymore. We lost too many lions. Now we just make them drink ceremonial poison. Sort of like taking a cyanide tablet."

"Makes sense. Exile would just spill the secret." Ross said. "I understand it's a lot to ask. Especially since Shiuri probably can't spare the political capital it would take to permit it."

"Shiuri can't spare the poitical capital to breathe right now, Everett. It wouldn't even be up to her. It'd be a council decision, and the council is not… welcoming right now." Nakia sighed and took a long drink from the glass in front of her. "I'm pretty sure they're watching me, too. I suppose my ties to the outside world make me suspect."

"So that's a no?"

"No." Nakia pulled a briefcase from under the table. "I just want you to appreciate what I'm doing here."

* * *

Wong frowned at the visitors. "Trace the Time Stone."

Thor nodded. "We were hoping to find where it—and the other stones—are."

"You mentioned you swore a vow to protect it." Banner said. "You must have had a way of analyzing the energy—of finding it if it were lost."

"The Eye of Agomotto, yes." Wong said. "The Time Stone itself is beyond enchantment. It involves primordial energies from the dawn of time unable to be altered or manipulated by even the greatest…"

"Look, can you at least talk to the Sorcerer Supreme, see if he'll…" Banner stopped. "Who is the Sorcerer Supreme now, anyway?"

"Me." Wong did not look happy about it. "Of course, half the other candidates died, so it was a limited pool."

"Congratulations!" Thor beamed.

"Okay…" Banner seemed a bit confused by this news. "So… as Sorcerer Supreme, don't you have a duty to recover the Time Stone?"

Wong nodded. "Our mages have been working on locating it since the Vanishing." He said.

"The Vanishing." Banner thought this over. "Is that what we're calling it?"

"That's what we're calling it." Wong said. "We cannot permit the Time Stone to remain in the hands of Thanos. However, we can find no trace of it."

"Hang on, hang on." Banner said. "Tony thought Strange might have put some sort of spell on the Time Stone, could it have been…"

"We thought of that." Wong shook his head. "If he did, we can find no trace of it."

"Have you looked in space?" Thor said, stepping forward. "We're pretty sure he's in space."

Wong just looked at the Asgardian. "Yes." He said.

Banner seemed to be thinking hard. "So… you can't trace the stones. But you could trace a tool used to house them."

Wong's face changed.

"Like, say, a gauntlet."

* * *

"I do not understand, my Princess." The old attendant said. "This sanctum has been deserted since the Killmonger set flames in the flowerbeds and defiled its refuge. There is nothing to be found here."

"I know." Shuri said. She was walking along the paths, eyes tracing idly over the blackened soil. "I'm not really here to… get anything."

"Then… why are you here?"

Shuri took a deep breath and turned to the old woman. "I wish to undergo the ritual." She said. "I wish to commune with my dead… ancestors."

"My princess." The old woman looked astonished. "The ritual was designed for those with the strength of the Black Panther. One without that power…" She shook her head. "I do not know whether it would have any impact. Or indeed whether it would simply kill the participant."

"Then I shall be more directly communing with them." Shuri smiled. From her robe, she withdrew two vials and a needle. "This should enable me to survive the process. It will induce a deathlike coma. I will be barely breathing, so being buried should pose no problem."

The old woman chewed her lip. "And the other?" She said, looking at the deep red vial.

"My brother's blood." Shuri smiled. "Who knows but that the power of the Black Panther still lies within?"

The old woman nodded slowly. "It were best if you were to strip for the ritual, my queen."

* * *

"Tony, I don't want a suit. I have a suit."

Rocket snorted from where he was perched on the computer console. "If you call those full-length pajamas a suit."

"You have a Kevlar breathable weave." Stark said, eyes focused on the robots in the factory below. "Nat has a leather catsuit."

"I've moved on to Kevlar too, actually." Widow said.

"Ya morons realize we're going into space, right?" Rocket said, arms crossed. "Like Thanos, he's actually out there, in space? This Kevlar stuff, how well's it work out in space?"

"I thought the plan was for Thor to just use the bifrost." Nat said.

"Right." Tony gave a grimace. "Because things have been going so well according to plan so far."

"Tony." Cap stepped forward. "I'm not saying you're going overboard here. I'm not honestly sure that's possible, given what we're up against. But hear me out. Nat, Clint and I… we're not like you. We rely on our speed and agility. I can't move around like I need to if I'm wearing a space suit."

"Yeah? The one I made for the kid didn't slow…" Tony stopped and bit his lip.

Nat and Cap exchanged glances, and there was a short silence.

"Look." Tony said. "The point is, I can make these. And we might need them. Just… let me work, okay?"

"Stop working." Thor strode into the lab. "These tools are not sufficient to help you."

"Hey!" Rocket looked offended.

"Uh, sorry? This is the most advanced production facility on earth." Stark said, turning around, head bent at a defiant angle. "No offense to whatever that place you keep gushing about in Wakanda was like, but I doubt they had places designed specifically for this kind of weaponry. And anyway we can't go back there."

"Yes, my friend, your facility here is an excellent one." Thor clapped Stark on the shoulder. "For earth. But you have done all that is possible with the tools and material you have here. You require a far greater forge for your ideas."

"What did I just say?"

"Hang on, hang on." Rocket hopped off the console. "You're not talking about going back there, are you?"

"It seems we must return to the realm of Nidavellir to find and trace the workings of Thanos' gauntlet and find where he has stowed it." Thor said. "So yes. That is what I am talking about. Eitrii can no longer work his own forges, and his works would burn up the mind of a mortal in an instant. However, the forges themselves, and the tools, are still there, waiting for a capable craftsman..." He nodded to Tony, "...to put to use."

Rocket grinned. "Oh, yes please."

"Sorry." Stark said. "Nee-dad-velcro is what now?"

Thor looked at him. "Nidavellir is the realm of the dwarves and the great forge-world of Asgard where the great weapons of the cosmos are made. It was there that the Destroyer was created, there that Heimdall's sword was forged, there that the Infinity Gauntlet itself was shaped, and there that my hammer first was raised to the skies."

"Your hammer." Stark stepped forward. "Your big, magic, supercharged hammer that no one can lift or wield."

"My Thanos-killing Hammer." Thor smiled. "Yes."

Stark turned away. "I don't understand your hammer." He said, walking back to his desk. "I doubt I'd understand anything at this Nidavellir place, and I'm too busy for a field trip."

Thor considered this. "Then your current weapons are suited to fighting Thanos?" He asked.

Stark stopped. He lifted his hand, traced it down his cheek.

Glances were exchanged around the laboratory.

"Fine." Stark said, whirling on his heel. "I'll take a look at this place of yours, see what I can help them out with. Maybe work out some sort of melding of the tech."

A cough interrupted them. Agent Everett Ross was there, looking troubled. "Does that mean you won't be needing this?" He said, lifting the suitcase.

Tony's face lit up. "Everett, you big beautiful man." He said, bounding over. "This is almost definitely going to be 9 times more useful than Big Blonde's realm of the elves."

"Dwarves." Thor said. Rocket snorted.

"Worst-case scenario, we can use it to make Cap and Nat some decent outfits like Cat-Man had." Tony opened up the case. "Hm. Kinda was hoping for more. You sure this is all you can get?" He looked at Ross.

Ross frowned. "That's enough to buy several Southeast Asian countries." He said, crossing his arms. "And it was dangerous enough getting that. Trust me. That's all we're getting out of Wakanda."

* * *

"Where is your brother?"

Shuri turned, and her heart dropped. Before her stood a Totem-masked half-cat man. The whole world seemed like something sketched out on an old woodcut. Her own movements felt stiff and jerky.

But even so, she knew who she stood before.

"I had hoped to find him here, father." She said. "I wished to ask his counsel."

"But not mine?" The totem mask morphed into a frown. "He is not among us. But nor is he among the living. It is as though his very essence has been obliterated. How is this possible?"

"I do not know, baba." Shiuri said. "These are strange times in Wakanda, and in the world. That is partly why I wished to speak with him."

"Partly." The Totem Mask tilted. "What else troubles you, daughter?"

Shuri swallowed. "I do not wish to rule." She said. "I alone stand in line to inherit the throne, but I have never been prepared. I know nothing of the process of administration, or of diplomacy, or of war. And should I be challenged…" She shook her head.

Her father was silent. "This is my failing." He said. The hand he reached forward was long and gaunt, but it felt smooth on her cheek. "I should have prepared you better. I am sorry, little one. I never thought this burden would fall upon you."

Shuri gave a little laugh. "No one did. Some say it should not have."

"Men say all manner of things." Her father waved a hand. "Particularly of women. There are many things that should not happen, which do. There are many tasks which we do not want to do, but must."

"But… I do not know anything." Shuri felt her father wasn't getting the point. "I'm an engineer, baba. Not a… governor, or chief. I will get things wrong."

"A ruler can occasionally be wrong." The totem mask shrugged exaggerated shoulders. "So long as they are not uncertain. And you have learned already the first lesson, which is what you know and what you do not know." The mask tilted, considering her. "A wise ruler knows who to trust, and for what."

Shuri's eyes lit up. "You mean to delegate responsibility?"

The mask looked annoyed. "I have spoken to you about your fondness for colonizer expressions."

"But that's what you meant, yes?"

"Yes." The mask sighed. "Many a stupid king has ruled well by simply knowing who can do parts of his job better than he."

Shuri gave a little jump and clapped her hands. "Thank you, baba!" She crowed, darting forward and giving the totem mask a peck on its wooden cheek. "I know what I can do."

* * *

Siuri came up gasping through the sand, clawing it desperately aside.

"My queen!" The old woman was beside her. "Did it work? What did you see?"

Shuri waved her away. "Go." She said. "Call for General Okoye. Tell her I must speak with her."

She looked down as she spoke. There, in the blackened soil, she thought she could see a tiny purple blossom.


End file.
